Caged Page #2

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You know good from bad.

Try to keep busy. It's important.

Now, as to your work,

I'll bet you helped your mother

with your father's shirts, didn't you?

Yes.

Well, we'll put you in the laundry

as a checker.

It will be easier for you

because of the baby.

You can see me anytime.

Hi, Ann.

Hello, Harper.

Since you went fancy working upstairs

for Benton, I kind of missed you.

This is Marie Allen.

Mrs. Benton says to put her in laundry.

Marie's gonna have a baby.

A baby, huh?

Why, you're just a kid yourself.

- So long, Marie.

- Goodbye, Ann. Thank you.

Let's you and me get acquainted, honey.

You may be a number to the others

but not to me.

Sit down in this chair. It's kind of roomy.

You like the stuff in here, huh?

Just little presents from my girls

for taking good care of them.

- Caramel?

- No, thank you.

Cigarette?

You know, you're gonna find out

that a lot of things are tough to get

in here.

This is just a little personal service

of my own.

On the side, sort of. Understand?

I like to do a good turn for my girls.

Why, sometimes, on my night off,

I drop in on their relatives.

I could get real news to your husband.

He's dead.

What about your people?

What do they do?

My stepfather's a mechanic,

but he's not working.

Well, I bet they saved up for a rainy day,

like me investing in real estate

for my old age.

Why, you think how much easier

I could make it for you,

you being in a delicate condition,

so to speak.

The little comforts.

Maybe you got a habit

that's hard to break,

cigarettes or something.

I know how it is.

I could get you whatever you wanted.

Time's money to me.

I can't favor every one of 60 girls.

Mom would be glad to help if she could.

No dough, eh?

Follow me.

Home, sweet home.

Just like the big cage in the zoo,

only you clean it up instead of the keeper.

Bucket and brush is in the corner closet.

Mrs. Benton said

I was going to work in the laundry.

I'm the boss here. Start scrubbing.

But Mrs. Benton told me...

Where do I begin, Miss Harper?

Now you're getting hip.

Use this lye. Soap's low.

Okay, get going.

Didn't you ever scrub a floor before?

Put your shoulder in it.

You're doing okay.

Keep that up, and you and me

are gonna get along just fine.

Pipe the new fish.

Millie, the old dame in the bed

says you loud-talked to Harper.

That took guts.

How much time are you pulling?

One to 15 years,

but I come up for parole in 10 months.

Just a hot minute. What's your rap?

Robbery.

Society. Larcenists don't talk to CPs.

CPs?

- Are you kidding?

- CP, common prostitute.

Where you been living, the moon?

Her name's Smoochie.

Glad to meet you.

Got news for you. She's all right.

I'm Kitty Stark, and that's Claire.

What's your name?

Marie Allen.

Stop scrubbing. Chew the fat.

Hey, Lottie, check her.

Maybe you need bifocals.

The dish is poison, Harper's pet nose.

- I'll tell Evelyn!

- Evelyn! Don't kid me.

Harper's first name is Filth.

Kitty! Kitty! Oh, Kitty.

What's the beef?

The matron said if I broke another dish,

she'd report me.

She refuses to believe

I've never worked in a kitchen.

Yeah, I know, but ain't I told you

not to go shooting your mouth off

about yourself,

all about the servants you had

and your governesses

and the yachts your old man bought?

Oh, why won't anyone understand?

It's always been like that.

Even as a child, I had no one to go to

when I was in trouble.

My parents were always away.

Even after I was married, I...

You're new here, aren't you?

I'm Georgia Harrison.

I'm not supposed to be here.

I didn't forge those checks.

It was all a mistake,

but wait until my appeal comes through.

Then I'll get out of here.

My father's waiting for me,

and he knows I'm not guilty.

We have a rose garden out in back,

and in the summer, it's beautiful.

All day, I'll sit and watch the roses,

and in the evening...

She's a real lady, Georgia,

only she married some guy

who likes spending other people's dough,

so he got her to write out

a bunch of bouncers.

I got news for you.

Georgia gives this place class.

She ain't the only one.

I had two real mink coats

and a closet full of black lace nighties

and a shelf full of real French perfumes

that my girls lifted right out

of one of the swankiest stores in town.

Don't rub it in.

All I ever had was a different pair of shoes

for every night.

Chow line!

Lottie! Millie! Dottie! Look at...

Did you read all about me in the papers?

They even had my picture.

Get those things out of here.

Next time, I'll get somebody

to show you how to scrub a floor.

In line!

Get back to the bullpen!

Squealer!

How did you get word to Benton?

I didn't.

You're a liar.

You're riding a phony, Harper.

It was me got word to Benton.

I'm a tall weed in the grass,

and the grapevine's blooming.

You old buzzard.

Lay a hand on me,

and I'll put your lights out.

I'm in for life.

One more like you is just so much velvet.

I ain't got no time to argue.

Line up for count!

- Lewis, Millie.

- Christiansen, Velma.

- Kopsky, Gita.

- O'Connor, Mary.

- Devlin, Claire.

- Wagner, Rita.

- Roberts, June.

- Menard, Tina.

- Barber, Emma.

- Minnelli, Nina.

- Cassidy, Katie.

- Bates, Naomi.

- Stark, Kitty.

- Klein, Julie.

- Marie Allen.

- Allen, Marie!

- Allen, Marie.

- Mullen, Elaine.

- Cardnum, Ruth.

- Branigan, Lottie.

- Hoffman, Ilsa.

- Stone, Louise.

- Vogel, Dottie.

- Elkins, Peggy.

- Laverne, Frankie.

- Orangeman, Hope.

- O'Shaughnessy, Mitzi.

- Carter, Mamie.

- Hansen, Alison.

- Jacobs, Hattie.

- Yosta, Violet.

- Twitchell, May.

- Smith, Peggy.

- Harrison, Georgia.

- Taylor, Alice.

- Fuller, Mimi.

- Danzig, Lulu.

- West, Minnie.

You're stir-simple

if you think you made more dough

playing the con game

than I did in my racket.

Who are you calling stir-simple,

you cheap crook?

Oh, quit bragging

about how much dough you used to make.

Both of you are giving me a pain.

I made double what any of you made,

and I'm not bragging.

There wasn't a crooked jeweler in town

who didn't come to me.

Once, I stashed a load

of hot ice worth 50,000 bucks.

What a sweet racket we had!

Six suckers a day bit the hook,

and we'd lam out of town

before the coppers caught up.

Joe and me lived high.

Gee, you girls are lucky.

I always fall in love with a guy

that won't work.

Last one beat me up,

then beat out of town.

But I got news for you. Men are important.

Personally, I'd hate to see them abolished.

If it wasn't for men,

we wouldn't be in here.

You said it. I've been married five times.

What's wrong with that?

Nothing, if you're not married to them all

at the same time, like I was.

I bet you got some story, too, huh, Kitty?

Your husband in the stir?

He was killed in a holdup.

If he was alive, he'd have another dame

when you get out anyway.

- Good night.

- Good night.

How many jobs did you pull

before they nabbed you?

I don't want to talk about it, please.

You will.

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